Electric clock



P. P. ANDERSEN.

ELECTRIC CLOCK. APPLICATION FILED JAN.23, 1918.

Patented Mar. 30, 1920, figj 2 SHEETS-SHEET 4 7 23 9 E. 1 2b '16. if Q zO (a 1 3 Ji l, VZI tZOI' P. .P. ANDERSEN.

ELECTRIC CLOCK.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.23, 1918.

1,335,147. Y Patented Mar/30, 1920'.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

2\ I firm 671 507" POUL PETER ANDERSEN, OF TAASTRUP, DENMARK.

ELECTRIC cLooK.

Application filedianuary 23, 1918.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, POUL PETER ANDER- SEN,subject of the King of Denmark, and residing at Taastrup, Denmark, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Clocks, ofwhich the following is a specification.

T he present invention relates to improve ments in electrical masterclocks of the type in. which the pendulum, during its oscillation,rotates a toothed wheel and thereby causes a periodical circuit-closingby way of an electro-magnet which attracts its armature. This movementof the armature serves to lift a lever which, during its subsequentfall, imparts an impulse to the pendulum. The distinguishing feature ofthe invention is that the lever is maintained in its raised positionuntil it is released by the pendulum itself.

In the accompanying drawing,

Figure 1 is a view in front elevation showing one form which theimproved master clock may take in practice;

Fig. 2 is a view in front elevation of the lower end of the clock andthe lower portion of the impulse mechanism;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the pendulum; and

Figs. a and are details of the impulse mechanism of the pendulum.

1 is a pendulum. rod (Fig. 1) adapted, in known manner, to swing about afixed horizcntal shaft 2. 3 is a rocking plate pivoted on shaft 2 andcarrying a lever 4 whose free end is fitted with a fork 5 which engagesthe pendulum rod 1, sothatthe lever 4: is forced to follow the swingingmotions of the pendulum. The lever 41 carries a laterally-extending arm6, whereon there is pivoted a pawl 7, engaging a ratchet wheel 8.

On the ratchet wheel 8 or on its shaft, there is lined a radial armprovided with a pin 11. is a check-pawl preventing the whee 6 from beingturned to the left (111 Fi l hen the pendulum s' ings to the 1 l fromthe position shown in Fig. 1, then the lever at, the arm 6 and the pawl7 will also swing to the left, the pawl sliding on top of a fixedguiding arm 9 as long as this motion lasts. When the pendulum thereafterswings back, that is to the right, the pawl 7 forces the wheel 8 torotate one or more tooth spaces in a clockwise direction.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented hltl. 30, 1928- Serial No.213,339.

W hen the pendulum has performed a suitable number of oscillations, thewheel 8 will have beenturned so far that the pin 11 will be caused tostrike a tappet 12 on a double-armed lever 13-64:, one arm 13 of whichcarries a contact terminal 15 insulated from said arm, while the otherarm carries a counter-weight 22 of suitable'size.

When the pin 11 strikes against the tappet 12, then the two-armed lever13-44- is rocked counter-clockwise, and its arm 13 is forced downward,the terminal 15 being brought into engagement with a mercury contact1819 or the like. This engagement of the two contacts closes an electriccircuit which includes an electro-magnet 23 and a battery or othersource of current A, the magnet remaining energized as long as the saidcircuit is maintained closed. The circuit is broken, however,immediately after having been closed, by the pin 11 being moved awayfrom the tappet 12 during the continued motion of the pendulum.Thereupon the electro-magnet becomes deenergized and releases itsarmature B.

By means of a draw-bar 24, whose length is adjustable, the armature B isconnected to a lug or eye 25 ona lever arm 26. The latter is pivoted ona fixed pin 28 and carries a weight C which tends to swing the leverdownward into the vertical position indicated in dot and dash lines(Fig. 2).

The free lower end of the lever 26 forms a fork 27, wherein there isfastened a pin D serving as a fulcrum for a three-armed lever 29-3031.The arm 29 of this lever ends in a head 32 (Fig. 1) cooperating, in themanner subsequently explained, with a trip lever 33 pivoted about afixed pin 37. When the lever 26 occupies the position shown in fulllines in Fig. 2, the free end of the arm will rest against a fixed stop34, thus preventing the weight C from forcing the lever 26 to rock. Thethird arm 3.1 of the three-armed lever is resilient and, by meeting afixed stop 35 located for instance on the wall of the clock-case (notshown). insures the engagement of the arm 30 with the fixed stop 34,when the lever 26 has been raised.

The trip lever 33 has a projecting nose 36 (Figs. 2 and 5) to engage thehead 32 on the lever arm 29, when the swinging lever 26 occupies theposition shown in full lines.

The trip lever is also formed with an upwardly directed edge 38 adaptedto be caught by teeth 39 on an arm 40 fastened to the pendulum, when thelatter swings to the right. On the lever 33 is furthermore fastened apin 41 (Fig. 5) parallel to the axis of oscillation of the lever, whichmay be caused to cooperate, in the manner explained below, with anupwardly-curved guide arm 42 on the striking arm 43 of the pendulum. Thetrip lever is finally provided with a lateral arm 49 which is caught,when the swinging lever is raised, by a hook '44, pivoted on a pin 45fastened in a clip 46 on the lever 26.

The arms 40 and 43 are hinged to the pendulum, although their freedom torock or oscillate relatively to the latter is limited in some suitableway. The movement of the arm 40 may be limited, for instance, by a strap50 which embraces the arm and is fastened to the Wall of the clock-case,while the movement of the arm 43 may be limited by two pins 51 on thependulum, all as represented in Fig. 2.

Assuming that the lever 26 with the parts fixed thereto occupies theposition shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 while the trip lever 33occupies its extreme leftward position, also indicated in dotted linesand limited by a fixed stop 47, then, during the rightward oscillationof the pendulum, the teeth 39 on the arm 40 swinging with the pendulumwill pass free of the edge 38 of the trip lever 33, and the head 32 onthe arm 29 (Figs. 2 and 5) will be located so low that the arm 43, whichalso oscillates with the pendulum, cannot engage the said head.

If, now, the circuit is closed, in the above described manner, by way ofthe electromagnet 23, the latter attracts its armature, whereby the rod24 is lifted and swings the lever 26 in the direction away fr 111 thependulum and into .the position shown by full lines in Fig. 2. The endof the arm 30 is thereby caused to slide down behind and into engagementwith the fixed stop 34 and in this way holds the lever 26 in theposition shown after the electro-magnet has again become deenergized andhas released its ar mature. The resillent arm 31, by striking the fixedstop 35, insures that the arm 36 will actually slide down behind thestop 34-. During this rightward movement of the la ver 26, the hook 44will carry the arm 49 along with it and move the trip lever 33 into theposition shown by full lines.

When the pendulum, during its subsequent oscillation, swings to theright (in Fig. 2), the toothed arm 40 will be moved above the edge 38,while at the same time the curved arm 42 will strike against and becammed upward by the pin 41, thereby lifting the arm 43 clear of thehead 32 on the lever arm 29.

W hen the pendulum thereafter swings to the left, theteeth 39 on arm 40will catch the edge 38 on the trip lever 33 and force the latter torotate in a leftward direction toward the pendulum. The nose 36 on thetrip lever 33 is also turned thereby, so that it lifts the arm 29 and,consequently, the arm 30. The latter is thereby released from the fixedstop 34. On account of its weight C, the lever 26 will now swing backtoward the pendulum at a speed exceeding that of the pendulum, if thesaid weight is properly adjusted, and for that reason the head. 32 ofthe arm 29 will hit the striking arm 43 and give it an impact of anintensity adjusted in such a manner that the pendulum receives theimpulse necessary for maintaining its amplitude of oscillation.

After having given this impulse, the arm will again occupy the dottedline position, until the next circuit-closing action occurs, etc.

In case the amplitude of oscillation of the pendulum has not decreasedappreciably when the circuit is closed, for instance when the pendulumhas previously received a series of successive impulses, it is possibleto prevent the pendulum from receiving an impulse from the lever 26during or immediately after the closing of the circuit by nitablyadjusting the weight C. In fact, if the amplitude of oscillation of thependulum is sufficiently great, the arm 42 will move so far beyond thehead 32 of arm 29 that the arm 43 will be raised to such an extent thatthe head 32 will pass down below the striking arm 43 instead of hittingthe same during the return-motion of the lever 26, provided that thespeed of fall of the latter,

or rather its speed of return motion, is suitably adjusted by variationof the weight C.

The construction shown on the drawing is only one manner of constructingthe invention, which may be modified in many manners, without departurebeyond its scope. For instance the contacts 18 and 19 need notnecessarily have the shape shown on the drawing, and the shape of thelever 1314 and the pawl arrangement 6, 7 8, 9, 10 may also be modifiedaccording to requirements.

To the master clock there may of course be connected one or moresecondary clocks showing the time. These secondary clocks,

the duration of the circuit-closing interval required for keeping theclock going being only about 0.3 second per minute.

I claim as my invention:

1. A mechanism for periodically imparting impulse movements to thependulum of an electric master clock, comprising a swinging leveradapted to be periodically raised by the oscillations of the pendulum; adetent pivoted to the free end of the swinging lever; a fixed stopcooperating with the detent to hold the swinging lever in raisedposition; a lever adapted to be tripped by the pendulum to release thedetent from said stop and permit the swinging lever to fall; and astriking arm carried by the pendulum and adapted to be hit by the detentduring the fall of the swinging lever.

2. A mechanism for periodically imparting impulse movements to thependulum of an electric master clock, comprising a vertical rod adaptedto be periodically raised by the oscillations of the pendulum; a swinging lever pivotally mounted at its upper end and having the lower end ofsaid rod connected to its said end at one side of the pivot, so thatsaid swinging lever will be rocked in an upward direction when thevertical rod is raised; a detent pivoted to the free end of the swinginglever; a fixed stop cooperating with the detent to hold the swinginglever in raised position; a lever adapted to be tripped by the pendulumto release the detent from said stop and permit the swinging lever tofall; and a striking arm carried by the pendulum and adapted to be hitby the detent during the fall of the swinging lever.

3. A mechanism for periodically imparting impulse movements to thependulum of an electric master clock, comprising a swing ing leveradapted to be periodically raised by the oscillations of the pendulum; atwoarmed detent pivoted to the free end of the swinging lever; a fixedstop engageable by one arm of the detent when the swinging lever israised, to hold said swinging lever in such position; a trip levercooperative with the other arm of the detent to hold the latter inengagement with the fixed stop and adapted to be tripped by the pendulumso as to disengage the first-named arm and permit the swinging lever tofall; and a striking arm carried by the pendulum and adapted to hit thesaid other arm of the detent during the fall of the swinging lever.

4. A mechanism for periodically imparting impulse movements to thependulum of an electric master clock, comprising a swinging leveradapted to be periodically raised by the oscillations of the pendulum, adetent pivoted to the free end of the swinging lever; a fixed stopengageable by the detent when the swinging lever is raised, to hold saidswinging lever in such position; a trip lever cooperative with saiddetent to hold the same in engagement with said stop; a member carriedby the swinging lever for moving the trip lever into position for suchcooperation; means operated by the pendulum for tripping said trip leverto release the detent and permit the swinging lever to fall; and astriking arm carried by the pendulum and adapted to be hit by the detentduring the fall of the swinging lever.

5. A mechanism for periodically imparting impulse movements to thependulum of an electric master clock comprising a swinging lever adaptedto be periodically raised by the oscillations of the pendulum; a detentpivoted to the free end of the swinging lever; a fixed stop engageableby the detent when the swinging lever is raised, to hold said swinginglever in such position; a trip lever cooperative with said detent tohold the same in engagement with said stop; a bar pivoted to thependulum and engageable with the trip lever to trip the same and releasesaid detent, so as to permit the swinging lever to fall; and a strikingarm carried by the pendulum and adapted to be hit by the detent duringthe fall of the swinging lever.

6. A mechanism for periodically imparting impulse movements to thependulum of an electric master clock, comprising a swinging leveradapted to be periodically raised by the oscillations of the pendulum; adetent pivoted to the free end of the swinging lever; a fixed stopengageable by the detent when the swinging lever is raised, to hold saidswinging lever in such position; a trip lever cooperative with saiddetent to hold the same in engagement with said stop and having abeveled upper end; a toothed bar carried by the pendulum and adapted toride over the beveled end of the trip lever during" the movement of thependulum in one direction and to engage said end and trip said leverwhen the pendulum swings in the other direction so as to release thedetent and permit the swinging lever to fall; and a member on saidpendulum adapted to be struck by the detent during the fall of theswinging lever.

7. A mechanism for periodically imparting impulse movements to thependulum of an electric master clock, comprising a swinging leveradapted to be periodically raised by the oscillations of the pendulum; adetent pivoted to the free end of the swinging lever; a fixed stopengageable by the detent when the swinging lever is raised, to hold saidswinging lever in such position; a trip lever cooperative with saiddetent to hold the same in engagement with said stop and provided with acatch; a member carried by the swinging lever and engageable with saidcatch during the upward movement of said swinging lever to move the triplever into position for such cooperation; and means operated by thependulum "for tripping said trip lever to release the detent and permitthe swinging lever to fall.

8. A mechanism for periodically imparting impulse movements to thependulum or an electric master clock, comprising a swinging leveradapted to be periodically raised by the oscillations of the pendulum; adetent pivoted to the free end of the swinging lever; a fixed stopengageable by the detent when the swinging lever is raised, to hold saidswinging lever in such position; a trip lever cooperative with saiddetent to hold the same in engagement with said stop and provided with acatch; a member carried by the swing ing lever and engageable with saidcatch during the upward movement of said swinging lever, to move thetrip lever into position for such cooperation; means operated by thependulum for tripping said trip lever to re lea e the detent and permitthe swinging lever to tail; and a member on said pendulum adapted to bestruck by the detent during the fall of the swinging lever.

9. A mechanism for periodically impar ing impulse movements to thependulum of an electric master clock, comprising a swinging leveradapted to be periodically raised by V the oscillations of the pendulum;a detent pivoted to the tree end of the swinging lever; a fixed stopongageable by the detent when the swinging lever is raised, to hold saidswinging lever in such position; a trip lever cooperativ with said detento hold the same in engagement with said step and provided with a catch;a member carried by the swinging lever and engageable with said catchduring the upward movement of said swinging lever, to move the triplever into position for such cooperation; and a bar pivoted to thependulum and engageable with the trip lGVP/Y trip the same and releasesaid detent, so as to permit the swinging lever to fall.

10. A mechanism for periodically imparting impulse movements to thependulum of an electric master clock, comprising a swinging leveradapted to be periodically raised by the oscillations of the pendulum, adetent pivoted to the free end of the swinging lever; a fixed stopengageable by the detent when the swinging lever is raised, to hold saidswinging lever in such position; a trip lever cooperative with saiddetent to hold the same in engagement with said stop and provided with acatch; a member carried by the swinging lever and engageable with saidcatch during the upward movement of said swinging lever, to move thetrip lever into position for such cooperation; a bar pivoted to thependulum andengageable with the trip lever to trip the same and releasesald detent, so as to permit the swinging lever to fall; and a strikingarm pivoted to said pendulum below said bar and adapted to be hit bysaid detent during the fall of the swinging lever.

11. A mechanism for periodically imparting impulse movements is thependulum of an electric clock, comprising a swinging lever adapted to beperiodically raised by the oscillations of the pendulum; means formomentarily holding said lever in raised position; means operated by thependulum for releasing said holding means to permit the swinging leverto fall; and a striking element adapted to receive an impact consequentupon the Ballot the l ver and to transmit such impact directly to thependulum.

12. A mechanism for periodically imparting impulse movements tothependulum of an electric clock, comprising a swinging lever adapted tobe periodicall raised by the oscillations of the pendulum; means formomentarily holding said lever in raised position; means operated by thependulum for releasing swinging lever to fall; and a striking armcarried by the pendulum and adapted to re ceive an impact consequentupon the tall oi? the lever and to transmit such impact directly to thependulum.

13. A mechanism for periodically imparting impulse movements to thependulum 0t an electric cloclncomprising aswinging lever adapted to beperiodically raised by the osillations of the pendulum; means formomentarily holding said lever in raised position; means operated by thependulum for releasing said holding means to permit the swinging leverto fall; and a striking arm carried by the pendulum and adapted toreceive an impact from said holding means consequent upon the fall ofthe lever and to transmit such impact directly to the pendulum.

1 1-. A mechanism for periodically imparting'impulse movements to thependulum of an electric clock, comprising a swinging lever adapted to beperiodically raised by the oscillations of the pendulum; means formomentarily holdingsaid lever in raised position; means operated by thependulum for releasing said holding means to permit the swinging leverto fall; and a striking arm carried by the pendulum and adapted toreceive an impact, from said holdingmeans consequent upon the fall 01?the lever and to transmit such impact directly to the pendulum.

In testimony whereof I afix my signature.

FOUL PETER iiNDER-SEN.

Witnesses I CHARLES HUNTLEY, F. WEILSKOV.

said holding means to permit the

